Ayeka's Gluttony
Chapter One: Sore wa Ikemasen (Literal Translation:: How Unfortunate)
"Tenchi! Give me a
hand here!" A man in glasses with black hair waves off back to a
house lit up with soft, yellow light. A young man walks out of a
sheeth of light with a suitcase, yawning. "Dad...I still don't
see why we should leave so early..." The older, black haired
man with glasses, Noboyuki, smiles as he takes the suitcase from his
son. "Well you know what they say: the morning worm catches the
bird!" Tenchi nods understandingly, then slowly stops. "But,
Dad, isn't it.."
Tenchi instantly hits the ground on his
back, in apparent pain due to his bulging eyes. He slowly looks up
in confusion and sees a sea of cyan hair in his view.
on it's not even 4:00 in the morning..." A certain space pirate
eases off of Tenchi and smiles, brushing off her trademark blue-and
yellow striped outfit. "Thsat's good advice Tenchi, you should
listen to your father.", she huskily suggests, oddly energerized
considering Ryoko was never a morning person. "But he didn't
even say it right !"
"See Tenchi, that's your problem
: Everyone around here knows what I'm talking about but you!"
Tenchi blinks dumbfoundly as Ryoko and Noyboyuki line up and shakes
their heads profusly, shaking a finger at Tenchi.
"Uh..right...--'..." He leaves the two to packing as he
goes inside the house to help his Grandfather, Yosho, with important
luggage. He finds Yosho at the counter in the kitchen, sipping on
tea. "Grandfather..do you think Ayeka will be alright? By
herself?" Yosho turns slowly witha pleasent smile on his face.
"Yes, Tenchi. The worst is over now, she just needs rest."
he walks over and pats Tenchi on the back. "You shouldn't
worry." Tenchi nods, and remembers Washu's diagnosis, deciding
to stop worrying. "As they say in America, the cactus is always
brown on the other side." Tenchi's face faults, as he stares at
his grandfather. "Not you too...." Yosho laughs and gives
a stronger pat on Tenchi's back, with the two picking up luggage and
made their way to the warmed up car.
The Masaki House sat in the Okayama countryside as the sun slowly but steadily rose up in the sky. A gate several yards from the house shines from the sunlight. Two logs roughly bigger than the gate, on opposite sides, hum to life from a slumber. "So....another beatuiful day?", the red one inquires. "It appears so...thank goodness Lady Ayeka is safe again.", the blue one replies. "Absolutley."
Yawning as she woke up, Ayeka shielded her eyes from the bright sun, cringing. "Goodness...." She yawned, wearily getting out of bed. This may seem like an everyday morning for most people, but today was unusual for the optimistic Princess of Jurai. Typically, her mornings were peaceful and she felt the joy of another day coming over her. Today: she had the hugest headache, and her throat wasn't feeling well either. Sighing, she makes her way down the hall and towards the stairs, stopping for a second due to dizziness. "This...this..." She sneezes loudly, sniffing her runny nose afterwards. "..This never happens to me..", she moans and looks about in the kitchen.
Tenchi and the others were on vacation for the next few weeks. They tried to wake-up Ayeka several times but decided it was best she rest. The gang had recently saved Ayeka from being a prisoner from a man who schemed to clone her, to serve as an inside puppet. It wasn't easy, as Ayeka had to wait several days for rescue. It seems she had gotten sick from the lack of clean water and barley eatable food while she was trapped. Sags under her eyes, and a 12-pound weigh loss made Ayeka look anything but a Princess. She was pale and weak, and she couldn't bear that this was happening to her.
"I wish my stomach wouldn't ache so much." She felt her abdomen, hidden under her usual purple kimono. Once a perfect fit for her, it was baggy; in response she tightened her kimono, while getting a glass of soda. The only thing she could keep down with her flu, she groaned as she journeyed upstairs, creeping back into her dark room and falling into the futon.
- The Next Day -
Ayeka sat in the living room with a box of tissues and a remote by her side as she watched the usual soap operas. Trying to forget about her cold, she almost succeeded until 20 mins in she felt an urge to throw up. Rushing to the bathroom, she made it on time and threw up in the sink, cringing at the horrible taste and smell. As she cleaned both her and the sink up, she heard a voice:
"Dang it does that cold and flu never go away? Wish ya could go outside again without tossing your cookies? Well here we are folks, with the new formulated elixir by Exlis; you'll be able to recover faster in no time!"
Walking back over the couch, Ayeka watched a box with the picture of a frowning and smiling child labeled "Exlis" being advertised. Her face brightened up immediately, and she turned off the TV. while getting up to go back upstairs. "Time for some shopping I suppose." Smiling halfway, she prepared for her trip.
"Let's see here, um.... All of these medicines are confusing..." Strolling down the aisle, Ayeka held a shopping basket weakly with her left arm, using the other to hold up a small list she made to purchase goods while Tenchi was away. Usually, Washu took care of everything with a small little pill with a crab on it. Ayeka stopped and pondered another way. Wait a minute. I could just go to Miss.Washu's lab and look for some medicine. But then again, It's dangerous in that lab of her's. And I'm already at the store, I'll just get the medicine then. With that, she continued also to get items on a list Tenchi had left for her to get at the grocery store when she was better.
Back at the couch, Ayeka studies the box of the commercial medicine and sighs in relief. "I think I feel better already. Oh, what's this? "
Warning, taking
more than allotted dosage could cause drowsiness and sleepiness.
Please do not exceed more than three
tablespoons in 5 hours.
Ayeka popped off the cap and
poured some in a measurement spoon. She swallowed the elixir, which
had the distinct taste of cherry and lime, tasting a bit odd to her.
She takes two more tablespoons accordingly, and gags a little at the
thickness. "I should wash this down. This is worse than Ryoko's
cooking..." she vaguely remembers the time she had tasted her
opposites cooking, which isn't very good since Ryoko was immune to a
lot of poisons... "....My head certainly feels better, it was
a good thing I went to the store." She poured a small glass of
half- &-half, and with haste washed down the annoying taste of
the medicine.
Afterwards, she began to wash her face and dry
off at the sink. Moving over to the bathroom, she gazed into the
mirror, and then stopped. She looked pale and tired, and even though
that was horrible, she couldn't get over at how much thinner she was.
"I must've gone down a dress size........but all the better for
Lord Tenchi, with this figure that demon stands no chance! "
But of course, she never really stood a chance against a Princess
like me, ahohohoho! She laughed with much needed new energy, and
went about the house to do some chores, killing time until the next
soap.
3 hours since ingesting the cold elixir, Ayeka was feeling a lot more of her old self again. Minor but important chores were done, and wouldn't really need until they had come back from the vacation. Finally relaxing on the couch, laying back, she breathed deeply and her body reminded her of the cold she technically still had. Well it wasn't a complete cure, I should go upstairs and rest... She takes time traveling back to her room and takes a short nap. She awoke when thunder clashed right outside the windows. Momentarily full of fear, she realizes it's a storm, and tries to ignore this and return to her nap. Then she realized her nose felt stuffy again. As if a trigger were pulled, she began coughing, and soon got up in search for tissues. Sneezing, her arm straightens out immediately against the wall for support. "Dreadful..." she groans and looks about, then sneezes again. Throwing the tissues away, she gives up and tries to sleep again after falling back onto the futon.
